CHRIS TIAN SAM ALWAYS FOLLOWED the lead of his older brother, Prince, on the football field growing up. Prince told Christian to start playing in first grade, and Christian started playing.
Prince told Christian to move to the defensive
side of the ball in fourth grade, and Christian
became a defensive back. Prince went off
to play college football at Houston Baptist in
2012, and Christian vowed to play college football when his time comes.

“My brother has a whole bunch to do withmy football career,” says Christian Sam, an Al-len High senior. “He took me to the defensiveside of the ball, taught me the rules, taught meabout hitting. I picked it up as I went.”The hitting probably came the easiest forSam, as he spent his freshman and sophomoreseasons following in his brother’s footstepsin the defensive backfield. Then came Sam’sjunior year, when he grew to 6-foot- 1 and 210pounds. He moved to outside linebacker andbecame a one-man wrecking crew.

“I just kind of grew,” Sam says. “I tried to getbigger my whole life, and then all of the suddenI started growing.”With the speed of a defensive back andphysical prowess of a defensive lineman, Sammade tackles from sideline to sideline at out-side linebacker. He flashed the ability to rushthe passer or drop in coverage against runningbacks or tight ends.

“Linebacker is great because you don’t haveto choose when to hit somebody,” Sam says.“You can do it whenever you want. You just flyaround and hit people.”Sam uses film study to make sure he is pur-suing properly on game day. He works with twopersonal trainers in the area in hopes that he’llcontinue to grow and avoid injury in pursuit ofan NFL career.

“I have really big dreams,” Sam says. “I’vealways wanted to play college and in the NFL.There’s such a slim chance that someone getsto do it, so I’m doing what nobody else is willingto do to get there.”With more than 20 scholarship offers at hischoosing, Sam is now trying to decide if he’llmaintain his weight and play safety in college,or continue to add muscle so he can stay atlinebacker.

“I can play either one,” Sam says. “I can be
versatile. That’s what I’ve always been, and I’ll
continue to develop my fundamentals to make
my team better.”